In order to obtain a Decree Nisi, the Petitioner in the divorce (the party that sends the divorce papers to the court) has to prove to the court that the Respondent (the other party to the marriage) has received the issued Petition.  The Petitioner usually proves this using the Acknowledgment of Service Form. This is the form that the Respondent is sent alongside the issued Petition and is asked to complete to confirm information such as when they received the divorce petition and whether they intend to defence the divorce.

If the Respondent ignores the papers the Petitioner cannot send the Acknowledgment of Service Form back to the court.  As such, the Petitioner has to find another way to prove that the Respondent has had notice of the divorce.  The next step would be to arrange for the Respondent to be personally served by a Process Server.  A Process Server will wait outside an address ready to pass copies of the papers to the Respondent.  The Process Server only has to touch the Respondent with the papers in order to effect service.  It doesn’t matter whether the Respondent reads them or not.  The Process Server then signs a special statement which is sufficient to prove to the court that the Respondent has had notice of the divorce. 

In essence whilst you can cause delay, additional expense and frustration to the Petitioner eventually they will more than likely do enough to prove to the court that you have had notice of the divorce.  There is also a risk that they could seek to recover their additional costs from you.  If you are considering ignoring the divorce it would be worth speaking to a local family solicitor to ensure that you fully understand your options. 

For further information, please contact, a Family Law Solicitor based in our Wolverhampton Office on 01902 328 365.

George Green have offices based in Wolverhampton and Cradley Heath and serve clients across the West Midlands and Black Country including Stourbridge, Wolverhampton, Halesowen, Birmingham and beyond. If you complete our online enquiry form, a member of our team will contact you for an initial discussion.